This blog, Criminal HIV Transmission, a collection of published news stories, opinion, and resources about so-called 'HIV crimes', has now been incorporated into the new HIV Justice Network website, and will not be updated as of November 15th 2012.
For more information about the HIV Justice Network, please visit http://www.hivjustice.net

Thursday, 13 May 2010

KAMPALA, 11 May 2010 (PlusNews) - Ugandan AIDS activists have expressed concern over a decision by the Ministry of Health to back an HIV/AIDS bill that would criminalize the deliberate transmission of HIV.

Last week, State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties, Richard Nduhura, appeared before the parliamentary committee on HIV to explain the government's position on the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill (2009). Nduhura backtracked on his earlier position that portions of the bill would lead to discrimination and undermine the rights of people living with HIV.

"I am in support of the law as it is now," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has in the past stated that he "fully supports" an HIV/AIDS law that would criminalize deliberate transmission of the virus.

The bill, as well as another controversial proposed law, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, has led to widespread criticism by human rights activists.

According to Stella Kentutsi, of the National Forum of People Living with AIDS Network in Uganda, the minister's U-turn showed there was still a lack of understanding of its clauses and how they would affect people living with HIV.

"The biggest problem we have with this bill is lack of awareness; we think [Nduhura's] comments were biased and influenced by parliament," she said. "He needs to sit and think carefully, then make a decision that will balance both sides."

Nduhura said he was convinced of his new position, and had not been unduly influenced by members of the parliamentary committee.

The forum has been raising awareness across the country about the bill, which is intended to provide a legal framework for the national response to HIV, as well as protect the rights of individuals affected by HIV. Many of its clauses seek to protect the rights of people living with HIV to healthcare, criminalize discrimination on the grounds of HIV status and uphold the principles of confidentiality and consent.

Contradictions

However, AIDS activists say the parts that criminalize the deliberate transmission of the virus are counter-productive; for instance, the bill outlaws attempted transmission of HIV and recommends life in prison for people found guilty of intentional transmission of HIV. Many activists have questioned how the government would prove deliberate transmission.

The bill further recommends that intravenous drug users, sex offenders and their victims, people charged with offences related to prostitution, and pregnant women and their partners be automatically tested for HIV. If passed, it would authorize medical practitioners to inform, at their discretion, people they felt were at risk of contracting HIV, such as an HIV-positive person's spouse.

"If you push for a more severe or lesser punishment because someone is infected you are discriminating and undermining the rights of people living with HIV," Kentutsi said. "Those who are HIV-infected should not be treated any differently."

The bill is due to be tabled before parliament imminently, and stakeholders will have a chance to put forward their positions on its clauses.

"People should not lose sleep over the bill; that phrase [deliberate transmission] could be dropped or retained - there is still a lot of room to review it," said Chris Baryomunsi, a member of parliament's select committee on HIV.

KAMPALA, 11 May 2010 (PlusNews) - Ugandan AIDS activists have expressed concern over a decision by the Ministry of Health to back an HIV/AIDS bill that would criminalize the deliberate transmission of HIV.

Last week, State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties, Richard Nduhura, appeared before the parliamentary committee on HIV to explain the government's position on the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill (2009). Nduhura backtracked on his earlier position that portions of the bill would lead to discrimination and undermine the rights of people living with HIV.

"I am in support of the law as it is now," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has in the past stated that he "fully supports" an HIV/AIDS law that would criminalize deliberate transmission of the virus.

The bill, as well as another controversial proposed law, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, has led to widespread criticism by human rights activists.

According to Stella Kentutsi, of the National Forum of People Living with AIDS Network in Uganda, the minister's U-turn showed there was still a lack of understanding of its clauses and how they would affect people living with HIV.

"The biggest problem we have with this bill is lack of awareness; we think [Nduhura's] comments were biased and influenced by parliament," she said. "He needs to sit and think carefully, then make a decision that will balance both sides."

Nduhura said he was convinced of his new position, and had not been unduly influenced by members of the parliamentary committee.

The forum has been raising awareness across the country about the bill, which is intended to provide a legal framework for the national response to HIV, as well as protect the rights of individuals affected by HIV. Many of its clauses seek to protect the rights of people living with HIV to healthcare, criminalize discrimination on the grounds of HIV status and uphold the principles of confidentiality and consent.

Contradictions

However, AIDS activists say the parts that criminalize the deliberate transmission of the virus are counter-productive; for instance, the bill outlaws attempted transmission of HIV and recommends life in prison for people found guilty of intentional transmission of HIV. Many activists have questioned how the government would prove deliberate transmission.

The bill further recommends that intravenous drug users, sex offenders and their victims, people charged with offences related to prostitution, and pregnant women and their partners be automatically tested for HIV. If passed, it would authorize medical practitioners to inform, at their discretion, people they felt were at risk of contracting HIV, such as an HIV-positive person's spouse.

"If you push for a more severe or lesser punishment because someone is infected you are discriminating and undermining the rights of people living with HIV," Kentutsi said. "Those who are HIV-infected should not be treated any differently."

The bill is due to be tabled before parliament imminently, and stakeholders will have a chance to put forward their positions on its clauses.

"People should not lose sleep over the bill; that phrase [deliberate transmission] could be dropped or retained - there is still a lot of room to review it," said Chris Baryomunsi, a member of parliament's select committee on HIV.

Archive

Is this blog useful? Let me know

If you find this blog useful, please let me know, and if you find it really useful, please also consider making a small donation.

Thank you.

(Clicking on the Donate button above will take you to Paypal.)

About this blog

This blog is now incorporated into new HIV Justice Network website which is intended to be a global information and advocacy hub for individuals and organisations working to end the inappropriate use of the criminal law to regulate and punish people living with HIV. There you will find the latest news and cases, searchable by date, country, and case type, plus all kinds of advocacy resources (including video). The information on the website is also classified by 25 topics, under six headings: Advocacy; Alternatives; Impact; Law Enforcement; Laws and Policies; and Science.

The new HIV Justice Network website incorporates all the posts from my blog, Criminal HIV Transmission, which I began in 2007. Little did I know at the time that it would become an important global resource, filling a much-needed gap by capturing what is happening in real time. It was only when I attended AIDS 2008 in Mexico City, and discovered how many people knew of me and my work, that I realised how useful a resource it had become for advocates, researchers, lawyers and others from all over the world.

Knowing that the blog served as an international information and advocacy hub placed enormous pressure on my time and personal resources. Until the beginning of 2012, the blog and its associated advocacy work received no funding – save the few wonderful individuals who donated via Paypal and a small grant from IPPF (thank you!). So I’m very grateful to The Monument Trust for its generous support which has allowed me to sustain, develop and expand the blog into the HIV Justice Network. I’d also like to thank Kieran McCann and Thomas Paterson from NAM, who designed and developed the site, as well as NAM’s Executive Director, Caspar Thompson, for his support and guidance.

HIV and the Criminal Law

This international resource, HIV and the Criminal Law, which I wrote and edited for NAM, is available as an A5 book and at www.aidsmap.com/law. To order your copy visit www.aidsmap.com/law, or contact NAM at +44 (0)20 7840 0050, email: info@nam.org.uk If you are based in a low or lower middle income country, as defined by the World Bank, and would like a free copy of this book please contact NAM.

Why Criminalisation Matters

Click on the image above to listen to Sean Strub, Catherine Hanssens, Vanessa Johnson and I discuss why HIV criminalisation in the US is a major issue for public health and human rights. The panel took place in February 2011 as part of the eQuality Thinking virtual convention.

Funders Concerned About AIDS

I delivered the keynote address, 'Combating HIV Criminalization at Home & Abroad', to the annual gathering of US-based HIV funders in Washington DC in December 2010. Video of my presentation is now available. Visit the FCAA website to watch it online.

Criminalisation of HIV Exposure and Transmission: Global Extent, Impact and The Way Forward

This meeting by and for advocates against the criminalisation of HIV nondisclosure, exposure and non-intentional transmission was held on July 18th 2010 prior to AIDS2010 in Vienna and co-organised by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the Global Network of People Living with HIV and NAM.

This poster presented to the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna in July 2010, highlights how the US criminal justice system routinely breaches international human rights standards [click on the image to download an interactive pdf file]